


playground revolution

by crickets



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-09-30
Updated: 2009-09-30
Packaged: 2017-10-05 02:52:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crickets/pseuds/crickets





	playground revolution

Helo finds her on the swings of the broken-down playground that lies just beyond the pyramid court.

Kara's quiet, and she turns her face toward the sky. He throws a stone onto the painted concrete squares in front of him, hops on one leg twice until she interrupts him.

"What are you doing, Helo?" she asks, her amusement not quite able to cover up the truth of what she's been through the past couple of days, the fact that she found someone she now has to leave behind, that they kept her in that place and did... _things_ \-- things she can't remember, things she won't say, things she, _she_, couldn't stop.

"Remembering," he tells her, takes the swing next to hers.

Kara flashes a smile that quickly fades. "Me too," she admits.

"Grade school," he says. "We had a playground just like this."

"Us too," Kara tells him.

Kara remembers a lot of things about this place, this planet. Except now, all the people she once knew are either dead or floating in the sky somewhere. All but Helo. And Helo... he's not the same guy she met back at academy. He was happy, smart, fun. Care-free and yet with a measure of seriousness that she didn't quite understand. And yeah, he made the rounds. More than once he found his way into Kara's own bed. And she admits even now those aren't memories she soon wishes to forget -- his strong frame, those freckles on his back, the way she felt in his arms after, warm and safe, like maybe someday it could become a place she'd never want to leave.

But that will never happen now. For several reasons, but mainly one.

_This has changed him_. He's still Helo, loyal friend and a soldier you can count on to do his job, to back you up. But he's in love now. In love with _her_, that _thing_. And the truth is that everyone back on Galactica, even the people he loves, will look at his face and call him a traitor.

Kara wants to do the same. But she can't. Not to Helo. He wouldn't do this if he weren't sure. And Sharon? _This_ Sharon? She came back for them, came back for _her_, when the jig was up, when there was no reason to. And that's something Kara can't ignore, can't _not_ be grateful for.

The truth is, she looks in Sharon's eyes, and she sees compassion, sees kindness. And for some reason, Kara believes Sharon when she says the things she says.

"I'm gonna miss it," she tells him after a while. "This place. It's our home."

"Nah," Helo says. "Up there," he points to the sky. "Those people? Galactica? That's our home. And, I don't know about you Kara, but I'm ready to get back."

Kara nods, takes his hand. "Me too."

_-fin_


End file.
